


Tick Tock Johnlock

by tjlcisthenewsexy



Series: tjlcisthenewsexy's old tumblr metas [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Meta, Sherlock Meta, TJLC | The Johnlock Conspiracy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 21:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17029986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjlcisthenewsexy/pseuds/tjlcisthenewsexy





	Tick Tock Johnlock

Remember the “bolt-hole” discussion in  _His Last Vow_? I have a feeling it’s going to come up again. So Sherlock fled hospital to set up the meeting with Mary. Meanwhile, Lestrade and John discover this and begin wondering where Sherlock has gone. Lestrade tells us that Sherlock has three known bolt-holes…Parliament Hill, Camden Lock and Dagmar Court.Mycroft adds two more to the list…The blind greenhouse in Kew Gardens and the leaning tomb in Hampstead Cemetery. 

Molly gives us the sixth bolt-hole, her bedroom (because he needs the space), then John goes to Mrs Hudson and gets the seventh…

MRS HUDSON: Behind the clock face of Big Ben.  
JOHN: I think he was probably joking.  
MRS HUDSON: No! I don’t think so!

The next shot, the eighth bolt-hole, is Mary talking to Anderson and Benji…

  


When Mary catches up with Sherlock at Leinster Gardens, he tells her…

  


But when you think about it, it doesn’t actually make sense. Sherlock planted the information, because he knew that Mary would go to Anderson?? But…Anderson said that he  _only_  knew about this particular bolt-hole because he followed Sherlock there one day. But that  _one day_ would have been  _before_  Sherlock was shot,  _before_  he knew Mary was an assassin. He’s literally only just climbed out of the hospital window half an hour ago, and before that he’d been in bed since he was shot in the chest a week ago. He  _didn’t_  plant the information specifically for Mary to find.  

So Sherlock  _knew_  that Anderson had followed him that one time, and therefore knew that Anderson knew about Leinster gardens. Sherlock needed to meet Mary somewhere secret. He  _chose_  Leinster Gardens, because he knew that Anderson knew about Leinster Gardens, and he knew that Mary would go to Anderson.

IF Anderson had simply  _told_  Mary about Leinster Gardens in this particular scene, then this whole thing makes sense just fine the way it is, because it could easily be explained by Sherlock texting Anderson the information. But the writers chose to add in the apparently superfluous information that  _Anderson **only**  knew this because he followed/stalked Sherlock one day_, which makes it not make sense, which turns this whole story into a big plot hole. And plot holes can either be just plot holes…or they can be clues. 

Lestrade gives us three bolt-hole locations, then Mycroft gives us two more. Then Molly tells us about her bedroom, Mrs Hudson tells us about Big Ben, and Anderson about Leinster Gardens. 

**_I planted the information for you to find._ **

So what’s really happening is that Sherlock plants all these “bolt-hole” locations with various people, so he can find whoever HE needs to find.

_**Rule One of looking for Sherlock ’olmes …’e finds you.** _

_Try finding Sherlock in London._  We’re tricked into thinking that this is about Sherlock’s hiding spots, but really it’s just his pre-prepared scheme so that he can organize a secret rendezvous when the need arises. After he was shot, he needed Mary to find him, so he went to Leinster Gardens, because he knew Mary would talk to Anderson. If Sherlock wanted  _John_  to find him, he would wait behind the clock face of Big Ben. 

Even though John thought Sherlock said this to Mrs Hudson as a joke, the information is now in John’s head. The first three bolt-holes were plants for Lestrade, the second two were for Mycroft, and Big Ben was for John. 

If you look closely at the Leinster Gardens scene, the entire thing foreshadows a rendezvous between Sherlock and John behind the clockface of Big Ben. In  _The Empty Hearse_  we find out that the train car bomb is on a line that runs directly under the Palace of Westminster. So a train line runs under Big Ben, yes? And what do we see underneath Leinster Gardens? 

Then this happens…

It’s a giant face. A face. LIKE A CLOCK  _FACE?_  Then Sherlock tells Mary as she’s walking into Leinster Gardens…

_Do come in. It’s a little cramped._

It’s cramped, it’s just a corridor. Why did this scene need to be in a narrow space like this? It didn’t need to. At all. Other than for reasons of foreshadowing this location:

And how’s the symbolism in the screen cap below? Sherlock and John can’t meet in the middle until Mary is gone. The two circular lamps tell us this: there’s only room for two of them ( _they can’t all three dance_ ). John is on one side, his two “choices” on the other. Sherlock, his heart. Or Mary, just a facade. 

The name Big Ben technically refers to the great bell but has become a nickname for both the clockface and the tower itself. It’s obviously extremely iconic of London, and really it’s surprising that BBC  _Sherlock_ hasn’t referred to it more often. Maybe it’s because they’re saving it for something big. And as expected, there are references to Big Ben in Sherlock Holmes adaptations, as well as in Steven Moffat’s episodes of Doctor Who. 

In the 2002 movie  _Sherlock: A Case of Evil_ , hetero-Holmes faces off with Moriarty in the climax of the film behind the clock face of Big Ben. They obviously used a set instead of the real location, because they needed more arm room for the epic sword fight. Holmes has just watched his damsel in distress shot dead by Moriarty before his eyes, and it’s five minutes to midnight as Holmes races towards the tower in pursuit.

The great clock strikes midnight and the bell chimes as Holmes gets the upper hand and stabs Moriarty through the chest…

  


For a generally underwhelming movie, this part is vaguely exciting. Just the location gives it magic. 

There’s something so final and chilling about the tolling of that great bell; time brings change, time is irrevocable. The chiming tells us not to fear, but to be present, to move forward without looking back. Big Ben is a single tolling bell, incidentally made at the same London foundry as the Liberty Bell. Big Ben represents tradition, but also liberty and freedom. It chimes for mourning, but also for celebration. For death, and rebirth.

 _Case of Evil_  was possibly inspired to use Big Ben for it’s climax by  _The Great Mouse Detective_  (1986), which also features the clockface in it’s climax.

  
  
  


We’ve been recently [told by Moftiss](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbs.org%2Fwgbh%2Fmasterpiece%2Fprograms%2Ffeatures%2Fnews%2Fnew-sherlock-begin-filming%2F&t=MGJjMGEwMzhjODliZDAxZDk5ZTNlNWYyZmFlODQ5ZjdiMTQ0ZDRmZCxYQ2hZOE14Mw%3D%3D&b=t%3AifT3Q8QrCR8YgkxriemfHQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Ftjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F143237335980%2Ftick-tock-johnlock&m=1) that the story they’ve been telling all along, is the story about to reach it’s climax.

Steven Moffat’s first writing credit on Doctor Who is for the episode  _The Empty Child_ (1x09). Captain Jack and Rose dance in front of the clock face…

And drink champagne…

This is 2005, so was he laying clues for  _Sherlock_  back then when it was just a twinkle in his eye? Maybe, maybe not. But the fact still remains that for his first episode of Doctor Who, Moffat decided to write in a romantic scene by the clockface of Big Ben. 

In  _His Last Vow_  there’s a brief shot of the tower as Mrs Hudson tells John about the bolt-hole…

Here’s a close up…

[Yes, it’s green!! But it’s just the Ayrton light, indicating that parliament is in session after dark]

It’s 9 o’clock, it’s  _His Last Vow,_ which is episode 9. So 12 o’clock would be episode 12. Which would be series 4 episode 2. And if you subscribe to the idea that  _Adventure, Romance_  and  _Terror_  are super secret three words planted just for the observant TJLC fandom, then the 12th episode would be  _“Romance”_.

Also, [@bug-catcher-in-viridian-forest](https://tmblr.co/m0mg2jfUNEhP7zJ_XPD2BxA) has [this theory about Cindarella](http://bug-catcher-in-viridian-forest.tumblr.com/post/140574006466/sherlock-tv-series-episode-speculation-the) which also predicted, based on the fairy tale connection, that episode 12 would be a Cindarella-like episode.

We’ve got some more Big Ben references in HLV…they’re heading back to Baker St after the drug den, and we get this nice wide shot….

Then we see that they’re driving towards parliament, as if they’re driving towards their eventual destination, Big Ben. 

Then we get this big sucker of a reflection on the glass of the cab window, right over John…

Then another couple here…

  


The terrorist bomb under parliament in  _The Empty Hearse_  was set to explode on 5th November, Guy Fawkes Day. Now think about the plum pudding scene in TAB for a moment. There’s [this wonderful explanation](http://heimishtheidealhusband.tumblr.com/post/136521976168/thank-you-wilder)of the many levels of subtext in that scene, one of which is the apparent gambling on the precise date of Mycroft’s “death”. [@heimishtheidealhusband](https://tmblr.co/mWwl8cjpjONd2dxW6PgkBQQ) says this about it:

> Okay. So now we’re cementing the concept that Mycroft’s metaphorical “death” is linked to Sherlock investigating cases. And by cases, I mean his relationship with John. But then, we get this deliciously precise date. ([x](http://heimishtheidealhusband.tumblr.com/post/136521976168/thank-you-wilder))

 ** _2 years 11 months and 4 days_**  

> In other words, Mycroft’s death is metaphorically Johnlock becoming canon.([x](http://heimishtheidealhusband.tumblr.com/post/136521976168/thank-you-wilder))

I’m going to stretch the clues a bit here to fit this theory, but not much. 2 years 11 months and 4 days, [the proposed date of canon johnlock according to TAB subtext](http://heimishtheidealhusband.tumblr.com/post/136521976168/thank-you-wilder), could in fact land us on 5th November 2017. As [discussed here](http://twocandles.tumblr.com/post/136900019858/twocandles-not-sure-if-this-has-been-speculated), TAB happened on Jan 1st 2015. Now if you add 2yrs 11 months and 4 days, you get to  **5th**  Dec 2017. But we can be a little bit creative and imagine that 11 months  _includes_  January, and anyway, November IS the 11th month. Also, there’s [the significance of the number 11](http://bug-catcher-in-viridian-forest.tumblr.com/post/136478509561/sherlock-tv-series-11-is-a-pair-of-1s) in  _Sherlock_ ; it’s a pair of ones, it’s two phalluses, it’s  _he’s with me._

11 is on the bus at the end of TAB. 11 is everywhere.So I’m proposing that they stretched the date a little to put the romantic number 11 into our johnlock countdown, and that  _11 months_  means  _November_ , the 11th month. 

**_2 years 11 months and 4 days_ **

So this brings us to 5th November 2017, which will be somewhere in the timeline of series four. Kind of a significant date, considering there was an entire episode based around Guy Fawkes Day. So Mycroft’s  _metaphorical_ death is johnlock becoming canon. And consider for a minute that Mycroft IS the British Government. He is England, therefore his metaphorical death could be likened to the Houses of Parliament/the British Government  _exploding_. In TEH, Sherlock and John in the train car ARE the bomb about to destroy Parliament/Mycroft. There’s even an emotionally intimate moment, John forgiving Sherlock, right before we think the bomb has gone off. 

So yes, I’m kind of suggesting that the entire underground terrorist network plot in TEH is subtext for, and foreshadowing of, canon johnlock in 4x02. 

In TAB, Mycroft tells us….

MYCROFT HOLMES: _It’s getting exciting now! Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock._

And here we go with all the clock references. 

In TEH, Sherlock is thinking intensely about trains while leaving train-guy’s apartment with Molly. There’s a couple of clocks in here that are otherwise completely irrelevant to trains and maps, what Sherlock is supposedly thinking about. Firstly, there’s this giant clock:

Notice both hands are pointing to the 1? 1-1. Eleven. The second hand is just passing the three, perhaps indicating that here in TEH we’re currently at the beginning of series three. Then we see this shot of his pupil, superimposed with a clock. This one is a little different. If the big clock tells us where we are now, then the pupil clock tells us where we’re going…

Seriously look at that tiny little red hand. Can you believe this shit? Both hands are again pointing at the 1. And that second hand? It’s just passing the 4 as trains engulf Sherlock’s mind. He  **is**  the train. Series 4 = trains = johnlock. There’s another clock in HLV, again referencing back to TEH…

One. Again. And the “countdown” is at 7:36 as the clock hand hits the one. So the 7 refers to episode seven,  _The Empty Hearse_ , and 36 is the 36 barrels of gunpowder under Parliament with Guy Fawkes. 

Tick tock, it’s a clock. It’s been a countdown to johnlock since the very beginning….

Thanks for reading! :)

[thank you [Ariane for transcripts](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Farianedevere.livejournal.com%2F&t=NDBmZTgxMzhlMmJiZGM4Y2JjZTY0ZTNiZWI0YzVhODVkYzU3NWQxYSxYQ2hZOE14Mw%3D%3D&b=t%3AifT3Q8QrCR8YgkxriemfHQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Ftjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F143237335980%2Ftick-tock-johnlock&m=1), thank you [@longsnowsmoon5](https://tmblr.co/m-kl_Tum3BZzaBuuAvxRHkQ) for editing and help organising my thoughts!]

[APR. 23 2016](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/post/143237335980/tick-tock-johnlock)

[#SHERLOCK META](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/sherlock-meta) [#MY STUFF](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/my-stuff) [#TICK TOCK](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/tick-tock) [#BOLT-HOLES](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/bolt-holes) [#HLV](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/hlv) [#TEH](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/teh) [#TAB](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/tab) [#TJLC](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/tjlc) [#S4 SPOILERS](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/s4-spoilers) [#S4](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/s4) [#SHERLOCK S4](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/tagged/sherlock-s4)

[1,119 NOTES](http://tjlcisthenewsexy.tumblr.com/post/143237335980/tick-tock-johnlock)


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